Conditions

Debunking sensational euthanasia myths in the Netherlands

Conditions
December 28, 2023

While surfing cellphone news headlines, my attention was caught by one from the New York Post that blared: “Dutch are Euthanizing Autistic People.” The Post aims for sensationalism, and the headline implied mass slaughter, akin to the Nazi gassing of individuals with mental disabilities. As euthanasia is of academic interest to me, I felt compelled to read the story.

The article’s basis was a study conducted at Kingston University, London. …

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What should you do if your child is diagnosed with bronchiolitis this cold and flu season?

Conditions
December 26, 2023

The cold and flu season is already causing a surge of viral infections among children in doctors’ offices and emergency rooms. Health care providers are urging parents to brace themselves for what’s expected to be another season of COVID-19, influenza (flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and other common viruses all circulating at the same time.

In young children, these viruses can cause bronchiolitis – a lung infection which is similar to …

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Rosalynn Carter’s impact on caregivers

Conditions
December 25, 2023

I’m writing this in November, which is National Caregiver Month. It’s also Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. But regardless of when you’re reading this, if you’re a caregiver, every month is “caregiver month.”

Ironically, it’s also just a few days after the former first lady, Rosalynn Carter, passed away. She was acutely and astutely aware of the role of the caregiver and the toll that it can take on you. She so insightfully …

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Uncovering the truth behind my father’s tragic end

Conditions
December 24, 2023

I was the “stranger” at my father’s bedside. Shortly after his 84th birthday, my father fell and landed in the hospital with a split scalp. His metastatic prostate cancer was an incidental finding, and superimposing this wildly invasive tumor on his Parkinson’s-compromised body marked his first steps onto his death path.

I came to my father’s final illness as his daughter, a doctor, and a clinical bioethicist. While I was unable …

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The path forward for telepsychiatry: a call for permanent policy

Conditions
December 23, 2023

The U.S. is facing a significant mental health crisis that has united us in our efforts to make positive changes across the health care ecosystem for those in need of care. As health care providers and experienced clinicians, we hope our joint dedication to addressing barriers to care and expanding digital services to those experiencing mental health challenges can make a lasting impact and start to improve health outcomes.

To …

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Words of caution when considering the use of “terminal anorexia”: perspective from lived experience

Conditions
December 23, 2023

After reading the article “Terminal anorexia nervosa: three cases and proposed clinical characteristics,” I was grateful to have not had access to the article a year earlier – when I would have personally met criteria. I was holding on to a sliver of hope at the time that I could enter back into a quality of life worth living, though my exhausted mind wanted to allow anorexia nervosa to …

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Addressing the enormous scale of work-related burnout and mental injury in doctors

Conditions
December 23, 2023

When a 24-year-old laborer’s apprentice used a chainsaw without training, they sustained a jagged laceration through their left quadriceps. When I saw them 12 months later in my general practice, their laceration was well healed. However, they remained unemployed because their untreated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was aggravated on their return to work when their boss put a chainsaw in their hands to help …

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Time to retire quarantine: Why 5-day isolation guidelines are doing more harm than good

Conditions
December 22, 2023

I’m making morning rounds on the pediatric unit today: First up, 4-year-old twins with a severe asthma flare; next an infant with bronchiolitis on supplemental oxygen; then a dehydrated 3-year-old listless in bed. These children are all hospitalized with viral illness – but none of it is COVID-19. Meanwhile, their sniffling peers fill daycares and classrooms, and my daughter is among them. “Maybe it’s allergies,” I said to myself this …

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Lifelong learning: a game-changer in diagnosing dizziness

Conditions
December 21, 2023

The eyes can’t see what the mind doesn’t yet know – an axiom to remind us not just of the value of lifelong learning, but that the answers are often in the exam room with us.

Though bright and committed clinical people we may be, we’re dragged by the tendrils of a lumbering behemoth. American health care is designed to produce revenue and built to punish highly visible mistakes over more …

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A difficult case managed well

Conditions
December 19, 2023

As time passes, we have more new names for what we used to call quality assurance, but it appears to me to now be a public relations issue and have very little to do with quality.

Years ago, I returned home about 10:00 p.m. on Sunday night. I had spent the weekend at my lake cabin for some sorely needed time off. As I usually do when I arrive home after …

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The harsh reality of dementia

Conditions
December 19, 2023

Dementia is a general term for diseases affecting memory, thinking, or decision-making, impacting daily activities.

Someone in the world develops dementia, on average, every 3 seconds. That’s 10 million new cases of dementia each year worldwide. In 2020, over 55 million individuals worldwide were living with this disease. This figure is expected to double every 20 years, reaching 78 million in 2030 and 139 million in 2050. As you can see, …

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Behind closed doors of traveling: the concerns often overlooked

Conditions
December 17, 2023

One thing is for sure: in today’s modern world, and as we recover from the impact of a pandemic, we are busier than ever. Another certainty is just how many of us are constantly on the move, with over 900 million people traveling internationally every year. Whether you’re traveling for pleasure or business, many do so without ever considering the health risks and security concerns to which we are exposed. …

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Unlocking the healing power: Bridging medicine and psychotherapy

Conditions
December 15, 2023

I’ve been conceptualizing this for several years now – ideas about what I would like to do with perspectives from my long-time practice as a physician and those always developing as a psychotherapist. I love both; each brings a unique skill set and way of being in the world, and I am well-immersed in the confusions one has for the other. I am an adult therapist with a deep love …

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Protect your brain with a good night’s sleep

Conditions
December 15, 2023

No one knows exactly why we need to sleep, but we certainly do. Although the brain can’t thrive on sleep alone, good sleep is an essential ingredient necessary to keep your brain functioning at its best. New research is shedding light on how a good night’s sleep may protect your brain from neurodegenerative diseases.

In 2022, Canadian scientists evaluated the medical literature regarding sleep apnea and its link to the risk …

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8 tips to engage patients, improve outcomes, and increase provider satisfaction

Conditions
December 14, 2023

The media is full of stories about providers’ influence on the patient experience. Less common are articles about how patient engagement influences provider satisfaction—and the vicious cycle generated by lack of patient engagement, provider dissatisfaction, and poor outcomes.

Consider these statistics:

From advocacy to early cancer detection

Conditions
December 13, 2023

I write widely as a patient advocate and subject matter expert on public policy for the regulation of prescription opioid analgesics in pain medicine.

Like many people younger than myself, I also visit many social media platforms almost daily. I am active on these platforms to share recent health care news and to support hope among people who increasingly struggle to find clinicians and pharmacists who will treat their pain by …

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An eye surgeon’s unexpected finding: a brain tumor diagnosis

Conditions
December 12, 2023

In medicine, the sickest patients always seem to come on Friday afternoons. At the end of the week, I’m hoping to move quickly through my last few patients – a small corneal abrasion, a routine follow-up, or a stable glaucoma exam. I’m prepared for a pleasant conversation and some friendly banter about rival football teams playing Saturday morning. But I’m wary. I have been doing this long enough to know …

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A complex patient interviews a retired physician

Conditions
December 9, 2023

Dr. James (Jim) Whitlock, a neurologist, and Ann McColl met at a writers’ workshop in Maine in 2022 and discovered a shared interest: patients with complex conditions and their journeys in the medical system. Dr. Whitlock’s practice focused on the rehabilitation of individuals with severe traumatic brain injuries. Attorney McColl had been a patient with a debilitating spinal condition and was ultimately helped by a neurosurgeon. A year after her …

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Burnout on the U.S.S. Enterprise

Conditions
December 8, 2023

The original Star Trek television series, in my opinion, stands out as the best of the bunch. It lasted only three years (1966-1969), but it has retained a cult following. Among its many television “firsts” were the initial inter-racial kiss (between Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura) and perhaps the first depiction of burnout, as seen in the two-part episode “The Menagerie.”

Originally intended as the pilot, “The Menagerie” was postponed to …

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The toll of health care: suicide risk among professionals

Conditions
December 8, 2023

Our health care workers—nurses, physicians, and support staff—are at a heightened risk of committing suicide. Plain and simple. The emotional and physical toll on our health care professionals has been ever-increasing, exacerbated by the COVID pandemic but still remains long after the official title “pandemic” has faded into the background.

Over 20 percent of the physicians in the United States are experiencing symptoms of depression, but fear professional repercussions if they …

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